Before sifting through the 600 (!) messages currently in my Inbox since last
Thursday, I thought I'd type in all my impressions to add to the atmosphere
for everyone, whether you were there and can relate or weren't and want to
know. First off, there are absolutely no doubts in my mind, this was an
*incredible* festival. All those high expectations I carried in with me
were met and surpassed on an almost hourly basis... ;) The music was
excellent and the vibes were simply incredible ('cept for the completely
misguided violent moshing by a couple of Slayer fans during Richie Hawtin's
set). All this positivity and love were such a vivid counterpoint to last
year's Woodstock (various fires, assaults, etc.)
Even more than that though -- the diversity!! I remember hearing Carl
really wanted a broad range of people showing up, and he certainly got it.
Rave kids, indie-rockers, hip-hop headz, daytripping families, middle-aged
couples, old guys all *over* the place -- it was *so* great to see the range
of people getting exposed to pure Detroit techno in the right environment.
I think we *really* showed Detroit what techno's all about. For once, it
wasn't about teens or drugs or illegal venues or shady promoters (the usual
I-Team Special Reports) -- it was *all* about the music and the culture.
Detroiters got to see the music in an almost completely unfiltered setting,
and I hope it inspires everyone that was there (it definitely inspired a few
people I didn't expect to be too moved...)
I don't know what else to say... I saw *so* many great sets: Aril Brikha,
Adult, Ectomorph, Slum Village, the Roots, Mike Clark, Theorem, Fanon
Flowers, Godfather, DJ Assault, Lauren Flax, Shake, and of course,
Saunderson/Rolando/May/Hawtin to end things on the highest note possible.
It was such a sea of humanity by Derrick's set, and just about everyone had
their hands in the air...
Lasting Impressions:
Theo Parrish taking us back to the *original* Loft days with his disco/funk
set at the Planet E afterparty... Easily my Festival highlight, and a great
thing to see since I'd missed Saturday's events.
That crazy old guy dancing and pumping his fists to Theorem (!) on Monday
afternoon...
The middle-aged black couple in front of me yelling and screaming in
recognition when Derrick dropped "No UFO's"...
One breakdancing circle I saw during Shake -- there was a whitebread father
there with his preschool-age daughter right in the circle. Her face was all
lit up at the moves, and everyone was taking special care to see she had a
good time...
And speaking of wide smiles, how about BVL getting his props on the main
stage after Richie's set?... ;)
Does anyone else get the feeling that we're going to see a *lot* more people
at events from now on, plus a big jump in record sales?...
.John.
